A Mask of Dignity
by Artiris
Summary: The Bladebreakers return to Hong Kong for another Asian Tournament, but 5 people on a team is compulsory. Their fifth teammate is an aloof, arrogant girl, who hates Kai vice versa. What will happen between the two if they share a room? *3rd Chapter Up*
1. The Destroyer

A/N: This is my first fic, so I'm not really that good, so you can flame all you want. There are quite a number of cuss words, so if you're the type that can't stand them, I advise you to leave.  All the characters in this fic don't belong to me, except all those you recognized. Thanks if you review, but no thanks if you don't. 

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A Mask of Dignity   

By Artiris

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Chapter 1: The Destroyer

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She leaned against the tree trunk, closed eyes as she nodded her head slightly to the rock music blaring in her headphones. Clutching her beyblade in her hand, the bit chip was flashing so brilliantly even a person a few metres away could see it. The bit beast wasn't clear, but a mixture of black, silver and shades of blue was evident.

Opening her eyes, she glanced at the vicinity – full of amateurs battling each other. Smirking, she removed her headphones and placed it around her neck, not moving, but observing every blader carefully. No sign of any worthy opponent entering the park. Yet.

She realized a boy shorter than her was staring at her. He was no more than twelve. Glaring at him, she snapped, "What the hell do you want?!" The boy was taken back, as he stumbled back to where he was, whispering something frantically to another boy. Gritting her teeth, she knew they were discussing about the typical bitch-attitude blader who defeated everyone in the neighborhood. They even gave her a nickname – the Destroyer. How lame.

Knowing none of them was a match for her, she leaned against the trunk once more, placing the headphones over her ears and a familiar tune by Linkin Park greeted her. Looks like this was going to be a helluva boring afternoon.

-

"Finish unpacking, Tyson?" Max asked, looking over at his good friend. Tyson nodded and replied, "I guess we should go down. The rest are probably waiting for us. It's good to be back in Hong Kong." Max nodded, and the both of them took a lift to the hotel lobby.

The Bladebreakers had won the American Tournament, and they heading back to Hong Kong, for yet another Asian Tournament. Mr. Dickinson announced that the rules have changed slightly, 5 on each team was compulsory. 

"Well hello boys!" the bright, cheerful voice of Mr. Dickinson greeted them. "Mr. D!" Tyson grinned, "So, who's our 5th teammate?" Mr. Dickinson smiled. "You'll know soon."

"He better be good," Kai muttered, leaning against the wall.       

"Ah, I haven't even chose one yet, but I will soon enough." Mr. Dickinson's eyes twinkled.

"Uh huh," Kai replied, while Tyson urged his friends to go to a nearby park. Time to face some amateurs again.

-

"I WIN!!!!" an annoying squeaky voice of a boy no older than eight years old interrupted the song she was hearing. Her eyes snapped open like a bolt of lightning, eyes directing to where the noise came from.

"JUST SHUT YOU GODDAMNED MOUTH UP!" she yelled irately, removing her headphones. Every 10 minutes, she was undoubtedly interrupted by some imbecile, and every 10 minutes she threw her temper. The boy cowered, murmuring something that sounded like "Destroyer". Freak.

She was about to put on her headphones again, when a group of people caught her eye. Not just some irritating boys, but rather her age. There were 5 of them, but a certain one caught her eye. He was quite tall, slightly taller than her, with spiky gray-blue hair, four blue shark fins facial markings on his face and deep mahogany eyes. He stared straight ahead with a bored expression, and carried himself with something she realized she herself possessed - dignity, and arrogance. His hand was holding a beyblade, its bit chip flashing brightly, and she could almost swear there was an orangey-red bitbeast in it. 

So, a worthy opponent finally arrived.

Kai glanced at the amateur beybladers battling on another. They weren't inexperienced, they were completely useless. Don't even know how to pull a ripcord properly.

His eyes darted, before stopping at a person. It was a girl, in fact, but not that prostitute kind which flirts nonstop. She had a slender figure, headphones were hung around her neck, and her brown hair with silvery highlights was tied into a ponytail. Her baggy, faded cargo pants hung low from her hips, and she wore a simple, sleeveless dark purple T-shirt with two red wrist guards. Two silver hoop earrings hung from each ear, and she had two piercing blue eyes. But what interested him was the beyblade she had in her hand, the bit chip was flashing, and Dranzer was reacting to it. He managed to spot something black, silver and blue, but nothing else. 

"Who's that girl?" Tyson asked, and Kai silently smirked. So it seemed that the hothead had noticed her too. Not surprising. 

"I don't know Tyson, maybe you should ask some of those kids. She looked like she owned a beyblade…"Ray answered, staring at her thoughtfully.

"Hey kid!" Tyson tapped a small boy by his shoulder, while pointing to her. "Do you know who she is?"

The boy's face turned into a mixture of fear and admiration. "No one really knows who she is, but she is one mean beyblader. She defeats every single beyblader in town, and not only does she defeat them, she totals their blades. We nicknamed her the Destroyer, and the way she battled was pretty much aggressive. We all know she has a bitbeast, but it moved so swiftly we only see black, silver and blue." 

"Sounds like a Kai No.2." Tyson commented, "If none of you can defeat her, I'll battle her then!" Smiling confidently, he began to make his way to the girl. 

"I'll take you on," Tyson said, taking out Dragoon.

The girl smirked. "My pleasure," she replied, as they both launched their beyblades.

- 

A/N: First chapter finished! Hopefully I can get more than 10 reviews. So, review to tell me what do you think…  Next chapter: The battle between Tyson and the strange girl who yet revealed who she was. Who will emerge victorious? And who will be the Bladebreakers'5th  teammate?  Review!!!

                                                -Artiris 

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:::To Be Continued:::

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	2. Ice Blue

A/N: All right, I didn't really get a lot of reviews, but I'm still continuing this story. I'm pretty much sure you guess who's the Bladebreakers 5th teammate. Who IS the mysterious girl? Her bit beast would not be revealed in this chapter though, no clues yet. Her name, however, would be revealed. IMPORTANT WARNING: She has the same name as one Final Fantasy character, but her personality is very different from the real Final Fantasy character. The name is not copyright to me, but her character is. Disclaimer first chapter.

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A Mask of Dignity By Artiris -  Chapter 2: Ice Blue 

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"Go, Phantom Dragoon!" Tyson yelled, a smug grin on his face, as Dragoon attacked the girl's beyblade mercilessly. She smirked, as her beyblade expertly dodged his attacks. Her speed was increasingly fast, Kai noticed, too fast for him to see her bit chip, but one thing was certain, it was glowing faintly.

"Can even lay an attack on a girl's beyblade? How shameful," the girl sneered, crossing her arms in a way almost identical with Kai's. "Attack!" she shouted, her bit beast seeming to understand her completely.

Tyson gritted his teeth. He was actually helpless… In front of a girl! He can't attack, or even defend. Yet he thought he was the one who always showed those street beybladers…

"Dragoon!!" Tyson bellowed, a magnificent blue dragon roared, emerging from his bit beast. The girl appeared calm, smiling slightly. "Finally an opponent who has a bit beast. But too bad it's weak."

Nobody could see what her bit beast resembled, only a black, silvery blue figure arising silently. It moved so quickly, it amazed everyone even a bit beast so fast, agile ever existed in this world. 

With that, her beyblade crashed with his, even before he could launch an attack, his Phantom Dragoon was lying on the ground next to him.

- 

So much for Japan's regional champion, she thought, kicking everything out of her way. She left the scene immediately after defeating him. She didn't want to see his pathetic face crying to his mummy.

She glanced at the block of flats in front of her, in one where she lived. She had no parents, only a bitchy stepmother. Talk about a surreal Cinderella. Her stepmother never gave her allowance, so she counted on her salary, which she earned at Seven Eleven.   

"Well, so you're the girl that defeated Tyson?" a cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts.

She spun around. An old man greeted her, he had two rather weird-looking hat and walking stick. Suddenly, she realized this was not an ordinary man. She had seen him before on TV, who was he?

"I'm the chairman of the BBA," he said. The girl got a shock, as she recognized him. So was Mr. Dickinson, if she got it right, and so-called trains the Bladebreakers.

"So?" she snapped. She wasn't going to talk to some snobby, rich old man. Especially if he trains a lousy team.

The chairman of the BBA smiled kindly. "If you don't know, teams entering the Asian Tournament requires to have 5 persons on each team. The Bladebreakers need another teammate, and I wish you would join them."

"WHAT?! I'm not going to join some pathetic team whom I just beat one of them!" she spat. 

Mr. Dickinson calmly replied, "All expenses are paid, and spare parts are free, too."

She thought about this. As much as she hated that idea, maybe she should. After all, she hated working at Seven Eleven or putting up with her stepmother. And at least she could face better beybladers than those amateurs who were afraid of her. Even if she had to put up with the sickening Bladebreakers, she could really thrash some better beyblades. She hesitated. 

"Well?" Mr. Dickinson asked.

-

"I can't believe I lost!" Tyson groaned, staring at his beyblade in his hand. 

"Stop whining, just admit she was better than you," Kai retorted, irritated. He knew if he battling her instead of Tyson, he would win. And wipe off the smirk on her face.

"But the weird thing is, no data is found. Plus, her bit beast was too fast for Dizzy to analyze it." Kenny said, typing furiously on his laptop.

"Are you insulting me? But her bit beast was astonishingly fast. She's one mean beyblader," Dizzy chirped.

"And really good." Max nodded his head, "Tyson, at least you should be thankful she didn't destroy your beyblade."

"But – "

"Come on, Tyson," Ray rested his hands behind his head, sitting on the comfortable couch in the hotel lobby, "There's no use crying over spilt milk."

"Yeah, besides…" Max said, trailing off, as Mr. Dickinson entered the hotel lobby.

"Hello boys, I heard about Tyson's defeat," Mr. Dickinson said, smiling slightly. 

"It's not fair, she was just lucky, that's all," Tyson protested, obviously still sulky about being defeated by a girl.

"Just lucky?" an arrogant female voice interrupted, "I don't think so."

"Well boys, meet your new team member," Mr. Dickinson announced, as a girl with familiar ice blue eyes sauntered in.

"Aeris."     

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A/N: So you guys know her name is Aeris. I would like to make this clear, I don't really know anything about Final Fantasy, I just came across a web site about it, and one of the characters was called Aeris. I thought it was a pretty cool name, so I decided to use it for my character in this fic. I haven't thought of a surname yet, so any ideas? Oh yeah, please review.   

                                             -Artiris

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:::To Be Continued:::

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	3. Exhilarated

A/N: 12 reviews! Not that bad I guess… There is a little Kai/Aeris in this chapter, and a few cuss words, (depending on my mood). I would also like to thank one reviewer for telling me Aeris' surname, I'll think about it if I should use it. Thanks, anyway.  Disclaimer first chapter.

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A Mask Of Dignity 

By Artiris

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Chapter 3: Exhilarated  

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The first reaction was undoubtedly by Tyson. He gasped, staring at the same girl who defeated him just fifteen minutes ago. 

"You're… joking," Tyson muttered. His teammates shared almost the same reactions as him. Shock and disbelief. Except their leader, who was leaning against the wall almost lazily, eyes closed. 

"No, I am not," Mr. Dickinson said pleasantly, walking up to the counter to discuss if there was another room available. Aeris simply crossed her arms, leaned against a nearby couch and put on her headphones calmly, oblivious to her now teammates. 

"I can't believe it!" Tyson practically shouted. Kenny hushed him, aware that everyone in the lobby was looking at them.

"HER?! As our teammate!" Tyson said, "I merely underestimated her and there she is, thinking she's the best blader from heaven! That arrogant little bi - "

"Watch what you're saying," Aeris removed her headphones, shooting Tyson a glare. "I only join this pathetic team because all expenses are paid. Not because I wanted to." With that, she put on her headphones again.

"Why you – " Before Tyson could say anymore, Mr. Dickinson walked to them.   
  


"I'm afraid there are no more rooms are available," he said, "One of you have to share with Aeris,"

"Definitely not me," Tyson said stubbornly, "I'm already with Max." Max nodded in agreement.

"I'm with Kenny," Ray said. 

"Kai?" Mr. Dickinson averted his gaze to the tall, spiky-haired boy. He opened his eyes.

"Do I have any choice?" he asked, glancing at his new teammate. She met his gaze without flinching, before turning away. 

This day was about to become worse.

-  

Aeris walked silently behind him, still listening to Linkin Park. The rest of them already arrived in their separate rooms. Including that sycophant Tyson. 

Finally they reached a room, on the door printed clearly three numbers, "205". Kai took a key out of his pocket and inserted it, causing the door to swing open. He entered without a word, and Aeris followed him. The room was quite small, and the room's decorations were simple. But that wasn't all she noticed. In the middle of the room was a bed. A king size one. Not two single sized beds. And to add with it, there was not any couch, but two huge armchairs.

"Damn it," she muttered. Removing her headphones, she switched off her Discman and stuffed her bag into a drawer beside the bed. She watched as Kai picked up the hotel phone, and dialed a certain number. He spoke to whoever was on the other line and slammed the phone down to the receiver.

"You sleep this side, and I'll sleep on that side." Kai spoke for the first time, a scowl on his face, "They don't have any extra two single-sized beds. And don't touch my stuff."

Her temper flared.

"Like I would," Aeris retorted, "I wouldn't even LAY a damned finger on your PRECIOUS items, HAPPY?" 

Kai glared at her. "Exhilarated," he growled. With that, they turned away, without another glance at each other.

-

At 7.00pm exactly, the Bladebreakers met at the lobby again. Tyson was back to his usual self, his anger about the defeat vanished. They were hanging out at their usual spot, waiting for Mr. Dickinson to arrive.

"I'm starving!" Tyson exclaimed, his stomach growling hungrily. "I can't wait for Mr. D to arrive!" 

"Just do us a favor and shut up. Right after this, no more fooling around. We're training the first thing after dinner." Kai snapped, leaning against the wall.

"Well, Mr. Sourpuss, my skills are perfectly fine. I don't see a need to train until next week!" Tyson shot back.

"I see all of you are ready!" Mr. Dickinson cheerful voice interrupted, leading them to a buffet restaurant. Tyson drooled, staring at all the food, which seemed to be calling his name. The Bladebreakers took their seats, in their usual order, Tyson, Kenny, Max, Ray and Kai. Aeris sat beside Kai, she rather sit with him and sit with Tyson, though both of them didn't look too happy about it.

Tyson immediately jumped out of his seat and grabbed a plate. The rest followed, and dinner continued rather peacefully.

-

"Fun's over, time for training!" Kai barked at Tyson, who stuffed the remains of desert into his mouth. The rest sweat dropped, except for Aeris, whose emotions on her face were blank. Tyson glared at Kai, before standing up with the rest of the Bladebreakers and walked briskly to the training room, Kai leading. He pushed open the doors, switched on the lights, revealing classic beyblading bowls. Each of them began training, while Kenny busily recorded how he should modify his teammates' beyblades.

At 10:30pm, after a session of vigorous training, the Bladebreakers returned to their respective rooms, able the rest at last. Kai changed into a black T-shirt and baggy blue pants. Aeris came out of the bathroom, wearing a similar outfit, and instead of short sleeved, she wore a long sleeved T-shirt. 

Turning on the dim light, she removed her band, letting her silvery brown hair flow down to her back. She lay on the very side of the bed, before covering herself with the blanket. Her head was crammed full of what had happened that day, but soon fell into a deep sleep, not knowing Kai did exactly the same.

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A/N: Finally a bit of Kai/Aeris there, but not much, this was just the slight beginning of their hatred. I was thinking, if all teams participating in the Asian Tournament must have 5 members, who is going to be the White Tigers' fifth member? I need a name, and should it be a boy or girl? Review to tell me what you think! The more reviews I get, the more longer my chapter will be, I promise.

                                           -Artiris

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:::To Be Continued:::

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